Ford Fusion Hybrid Rolls With Aston Martin Grill, 47 MPG

I was in a German sports car that sucked down gas by the
keg, so I kept the pressure on the gas pedal light. How I wished
for the super-efficient car I’d driven weeks before, in
Michigan. Not a Toyota Prius or an all-electric Nissan Leaf, but
a $28,000 Ford.

The new Ford Fusion Hybrid gets 47 miles per gallon, both
in the city and on the highway. With that kind of economy and
its 13.5-gallon fuel tank, I could have whooshed between my
homes in New York and Pennsylvania seven times without worrying
about stopping at a gas station overseen by the National Guard.

The hybrid is one of several powertrains offered in the
brand-new Fusion. The low-end model starts at only $22,500, with
a 2.5-liter four-cylinder that gets 34 mpg highway. There are
also two turbo-charged engines available, with 1.6 liters or 2.0
liters, that have more pep and still get up to 37 and 33 mpg.

A plug-in hybrid will also be available down the line.
Perhaps Ford (F) is doing penance for all the over-sized SUVs
foisted upon us in the 1990s and 2000s, because they’re taking
efficiency seriously.

Aston Martin

Ford’s ambition is for the Fusion to become as wildly
popular as the Taurus once was. After all, it’s a mid-size sedan
with a mid-size price and great gas mileage. (Ford still offers
the Taurus, but it hasn’t been a big seller for years.)

Completely revamped inside and out, the Fusion takes on the
other middle-class stalwarts in the field, like the Toyota
Corolla (which is as beige as a car that you’ll likely to find),
the redesigned Honda Accord and the Nissan Altima.

Too often mid-size cars are studies in bland design. The
Fusion neatly avoids this foible by grafting on the front end of
an Aston Martin.

No, really. Take a look at the flat-faced, oval grill laced
with horizontal lines, and note the uncanny resemblance to
models found on Aston Martins, a high-end brand that Ford once
owned.

Would Mr. Skyfall himself be found driving it? Not terribly
likely, as the novelty of the front end only goes so far. The
Fusion looks sturdy, but it lacks overall harmony or any real
sexiness. You really can’t hope for supercar proportions from a
one-size-fits-all sedan.

Lost Car

Park it next to the Accord and Altima, and you’ll find that
their shapes and dimensions are awfully alike. I don’t envy the
guy who buys any one of the models in silver paint, and then
forgets where he parked it at the shopping mall during
Christmas.

The similarities are due, in large part, to regulations,
both in the U.S. and worldwide. Europe, for instance, has
pedestrian impact regulations that require hoods to be a certain
height and a crumple zone between the top of the engine and the
hood. You can no longer get away with the kind of low hoods or
rakish fins once found on cars of the 1950s and 1960s.

And buyers want rear seats that are comfortable and an
ample trunk. It’s no wonder that the result is a glut of mid-
size cars that would look depressingly similar if you took away
the different grills, the brightwork and the badges.

Options Offer

My Fusion Hybrid had options including navigation, adaptive
cruise control and active parking assist, so it came to $34,770.
I drove over three days around Michigan, starting at an early
hour. It was very dark and quite chilly and the roads were
empty.

Once the heater kicked on and the car warmed, so too did I
to the hybrid system. I’m generally lukewarm on hybrids. Tricks
with gas engines like direct fuel injection and turbo-charging
have offset the gas mileage perks of a hybrid, which has to
carry a load of heavy batteries. Hybrids are best around town.

The Fusion cruised capably on the highway, however, the
2.0-liter four-cylinder engine spinning merrily in the
background. The electric motors added more juice on demand, for
a total of 188 horsepower, and I had no issues powering past
other cars.

The continuous variable transmission is exceptionally well-
mated to the powertrain, and all the systems work quietly and
without vibration. The car drives really nicely, and isn’t too
loud, even on hills.

The top-of-the-line Fusion with the turbocharged 2.0-liter
engine has 240 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque. That
would have been nice, but I might have had to stop for gas --
something I never even had to consider over 400 miles of driving
the hybrid.

I didn’t, however, actually see 47 mpg. With my typically
leaden foot, I averaged 36.9 mpg. No worries, I have only myself
to blame.

The 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid at a Glance

Engine: 2.0-liter four-cylinder and a 35kW electric motor

with a combined 188 horsepower.

Transmission: Continuous variable.

Speed: 0 to 60 mph in about nine seconds.

Gas mileage per gallon: 47 city, 47 highway.

Price as tested: $34,770.

Best feature: That gas mileage!

Worst feature: Ford’s infotainment system is still clunky.

Target buyer: The driver who wants to avoid those gas

lines.

(Jason H. Harper writes about autos for Muse, the arts and
leisure section of Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are
his own.)